Puglia (Apulia) region of Italy

I love the Puglia (Apulia) region in the boot heel of Italy, especially the town of Lecce, which is known as the "Florence of Southern Italy" for its fine, baroque architecture of its palazzi and churches. Thanks again to TravelCenturian (Acca) who introduced ITN readers to this wonderful town on this message board about 4 years ago (prior to that I had never heard of Lecce). There was a Frugal Traveler column on Puglia in the June 14, 2011 issue of the New York Times at http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/in-apulia-vacationing-like-an-italian/ . However, for an escorted tour to Puglia that's much less frugal and that certainly doesn't bike it as did the Frugal Traveler's columnist, Seth Kugel, Travel Concepts International, Inc. (TCI)/Serious Traveler offers a "Precious Stones of Puglia" tour from Sept. 29-Oct. 7, 2011 at http://serioustraveler.com/ApuliaItaly1.html. I have been trying to take this particular tour ever since TravelCenturian "sang the praises" of Puglia on this forum, but unfortunately it hasn't had the minimum number of participants needed to operate since 2005. Once again I have a deposit down on this tour for this year, as do 3 other people. However, with such low enrollment I am concerned that either the tour will be a)cancelled again; or b) allowed to operate at additional cost; or c) allowed to operate at its original cost, but downscaled in hotels or other services and stripped of the "bells and whistles" that make this tour so special to the extent that it is no longer as appealing. I am particularly concerned that the low enrollment as it currently stands might necessitate a change to a less desirable hotel than the centrally-located Old World-style Patria Palace Hotel in Lecce (which directly faces the Basilica di Santa Croce, the penultimate symbol of Lecce Baroque, whose exterior is magnfiicantly lit up at night). If I sound like I've been to Puglia before, I have. Was there in Oct. 2009 with Elderhostel (now Road Scholar). Although the Road Scholar program was good in terms of sightseeing and educational content, I was not at all happy that it opted to spend 6 nights in the nothing town of Conversano that it used as a base for day excursions and that the hotel that it used in Lecce was a 10-15 minute walk from the historical town center, with mediocre food at best (even in Italy!) and a restaurant staff with an attitude that was even worse. So now I really want to go back to Puglia and do it right! I won't feel like I've truly experienced Puglia the way it should be until I've taken "Precious Stones of Puglia" with TCI. I hope that some of you might consider it too so that the tour can operate for once in a blue moon. May this be the year that it finally does so and with all the features contained in the original itinerary at the same cost. Otherwise I will continue booking it in the future for as long as it takes until it operates. Can you tell I REALLY want to take this tour? Can some of you help make it a go by enrolling in it? As I stated in my previous posting concerning this tour back on Jan. 30, 2011, "I have no financial interest in or occupational connection with TCI, but I'm trying to plug their "Precious Stones of Puglia" tour for Fall 2011 because I'm tired of it getting cancelled or worse yet, not offered at all."